Armageddon
by azyrian
Summary: [ONESHOT] It's amazing how one mysterious package can change their lives forever. 'Your twenty four hours start now.' Slight RaeRob


Hello and welcome to this lovely little one-shot. And yes, it is a one-shot and that only. But maybe if I'm feeling creative and nice I'll follow it up with something else. Just maybe though. I am aware that I have another story to tend to, but I dreamed about this the other night, (though not necessarily like this) and I couldn't resist typing it up. I do hope you like it.

This isn't necessarily set in any certain time period throughout the show. It just kind of hangs in the balance somewhere. Some things may have happened, some things may have not. More than likely, if it's not mentioned, it didn't occur.

Also, this story contains the pairing Raven/Robin and possibly Star/BB, though romantic interaction will be slight, as the genre is not romance.

Enjoy

xxxxxx

**Armageddon**

xxxxxx

_3:02 p.m._

"Mail call!" Beast Boy shouted, bouncing into the common room carrying a small package. The remaining Titans gathered around the counter and the mysterious box while Robin pulled out an ever-handy bird-a-rang and opened it up. Two identical spheres that looked to be carved from obsidian sat nicely in the box. They looked like ordinary pool balls, only slightly bigger; around the size of a softball.

Though the two spheres looked harmless enough, the Titans were nonetheless cautious; just in case this turned out to be another escapade like the Puppet Master's plan.

"Uh…what are they?" Beast Boy asked, prodding one of the spheres with his finger.

Raven rolled her eyes, "Look, here's a note." Nestled in between the two orbs was a folded piece of paper. Raven pulled it free and began to read.

_Before something stupid is done, there are ground rules to be covered. If any magic, even the minutest amount, touches them, they will detonate. Fail to place them in the correct spot and they will detonate. Trying to dispose of them in any way and they will detonate before the chance is to be had. By opening this package the spheres have been armed. To disarm them, they will be placed in the correct locations at a designated time. There is no backing out. _

Silence.

No one dared to speak for a few agonizing minutes. The two obsidian spheres, nestled comfortably in the cushioned box, stared blankly up at the five horrified teenagers gathered around. Finally, Raven lowered the note and looked to her teammates, her face grim.

"How can we be sure they're real? That this isn't some sick joke?" She asked, her gaze again settling on the spherical bombs.

"We can't. But would you really want to find out the hard way?" Robin answered, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

"What should we do with it?" Beast Boy asked, his large green eyes searching his friend's for answers.

"I think we should stay the heck away from it." Cyborg answered, backing away.

"I am in agreement." Starfire added, floating gracefully over to stand next to Cyborg. Raven backed away as well, nodding.

"We can leave it alone for now. But then what? How are we-" She was interrupted by the loud beeping of the main computer. Giving a questioning look to his friends, Robin crossed the room and pressed a key one the control panel, beginning the video conference.

"Good evening, Titans," The all too familiar voice swept the room and ensnared their complete attention. Slade's image flashed into focus on the large screen. A hidden smile was evident in his voice. "I gather you have received my package and proceeded to open it. How delightful." Robin's gloved fists clenched in anger and his entire body visibly tensed.

"What are you up to now Slade? What are your plans this time?" Slade laughed softly, fixating his piercing grey eye on Robin.

"Patience Robin. All will be explained eventually. For now, you must obey my orders." None of the Titans said anything but instead threw death glares at the computer screen.

"Good," he added, "Now, as for the instructions. You have twenty-four hours in which to place the bombs in the designated locations. Your twenty-four hour time constraint will begin when this conversation ends. Best set your watches by it. In order to disarm the spheres they must be placed on their specific platforms exactly at the end of the twenty-four hours, and I am assuming you know the end result if completed otherwise. There is to be no heroic choosing of Fates, no chivalrous deeds to discover who are to be the ones to complete this onerous task. I have already chosen for you. A chore I feel is of great help. It saves the trouble of deciding and wasting your precious time."

Each of the Titans unconsciously held their breath.

"The two to carry the spheres will be Raven and Starfire. No one else." Looks of shock and horror crossed all of their faces.

"Of course," Raven breathed, "I won't be able to use my powers; the first part of the note makes sense."

Slade nodded. "Very good Raven." He commented. Robin frowned, his brow furrowing deeply.

"Why them? Why not me?" Robin asked tersely.

"I have my reasons Robin, and it would be best not to question them."

They all heard and understood the underlying threat hidden in the response. Each of the Titans also knew that they, for once, were in no position to argue.

Slade continued, "Failure to comply will result in-"

"Detonation. Yes, yes, we know." Robin finished sourly. "But why?"

Slade chuckled menacingly. "Robin, Robin, Robin," he said slowly, "Half of the fun is figuring out the reasons behind the riddles." His only response was a deepening frown.

"Your destination is an out-of-commission amusement park northeast of here. It bears some historical significance. I believe one of you knows which I am talking about. Have fun. Your twenty-four hours start now." And the screen went blank.

_3:18 p.m.__ 24 hours remaining_

The silence in the room was deafening as no one could find the words to say. Raven and Starfire had just about been handed their execution date.

Raven tore her gaze away from the dead screen and locked eyes with Starfire. The only emotion showing in Raven's amaranthine eyes was fear, and another she had not felt for quite some time – hopelessness. The same emotion reflected back in Starfire's emerald orbs only they held something more – determination.

Starfire was determined not to let this ruin her, or kill her. Raven wished she had that. But whatever ounce of determination she had deserted her after the conversation with Slade ended. She had a feeling, and a foreboding one at that. There was something terribly wrong with this entire situation but she just couldn't place her finger on it.

Giving one last sweeping look at her friends, Raven turned on her heel and left the room.

She needed to think.

x

_5:37 p.m.__ 22 hours and 41 minutes remaining_

The door to the roof closed lightly but Raven didn't turn around. Her mind was too full to really care anymore. _Failure to comply will result in detonation... If any magic, even the most minute about, touches them, they will detonate...There is no backing out..._

Raven screwed her eyes shut and tried to clear her mind of all of Slade's mocking comments. She couldn't understand her fear in this situation; this was just another one of Slade's stupid ploys to distract them or taunt them for a hidden purpose. Why should she be so afraid now?

_Because it targeted her._

But why her? She hadn't done anything particularly nasty to Slade or even been _close_ enough to do something. It was always Robin. _Why not him?_ It wasn't like Raven would have rather had Robin in her position, but it just didn't make sense. _Nothing_ seemed to make sense anymore.

This was stupid. Raven clenched her jaw in anger. Slade had her right where he wanted her. This was just another simple taunting, a way to break her and the rest of the team so they would cower in fear before him. Raven sighed and rolled her eyes – like _that_ was ever going to happen.

Someone sat down beside her but Raven kept staring out at the bay.

"Hey," Robin said, wrapping his arms around his legs, "We're thinking of getting something to eat," He looked at her, the mask hiding the emotions in his eyes, but not his voice, "You can come if you'd like, but I'll understand if you don't want to."

Raven said nothing for a moment as her gaze trailed the waves incessantly crashing into the rocky shore. There was little point in staying up here, alone, when she could be with her friends.

Raven gave him a small smile, "Though I can't say I'll be the most fun of people tonight, I'd still like to come." Robin returned the smile with a sincere one of his own and stood up, offering his hand to her. Raven took it and stood up fluidly.

"Great, let's go." He said, leading the way down from the roof.

x

_6:47 p.m.__ 21 hours and 31 minutes remaining _

Dinner was rather enjoyable, once the issue of the death spheres and Slade's omnipotent warning was forcefully ignored. Afterwards though, they were all glad to have a distraction from the crisis to just be carefree again. Raven especially enjoyed herself but the lingering threat still remained in the back reaches of her mind.

When the Titans all arrived back at the Tower each unconsciously went their separate ways, the solemn task ahead of them finally coming back into full view.

Raven found herself just wanting to be alone with time to think and merely sit in silence. She nestled herself in a corner that gave her a perfect view of the ocean and the sun's final flickering rays beginning to slip past the horizon. She loved sunsets, no particular reason why, but she just did. They were calming in a way and Raven spent most of her evenings either on the roof or in front of the same window she was now, just watching the sun dip towards the horizon until darkness engulfed the land.

Though she was thinking and almost entirely enthralled by the sunset, Raven didn't fail to notice when Robin sat down next to her. For a few calm moments neither one of them said anything, each not wanting to intrude upon the silent and thoughtful solitude that had trapped them both.

But finally Raven spoke, the ponderous questions too much for her to keep in.

"What if I die tomorrow?" She asked quietly, blinking slowly.

"You aren't going to die," Robin said gently, "This is just another on of Slade's crazy schemes,"

Raven looked over at him, her eyes laden with worry, "You didn't answer my question."

Robin swallowed and stared at his hands, "If you do die, then I don't," he cleared his throat nervously, "I mean, the team won't know what to do."

They sat in contemplative silence once more, the warm glow from the hazy sun bathing them in iridescent orange flames.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Raven murmured. Robin rested his chin on his knees and stared at her curiously. "I-I know I probably shouldn't, but this time...it just feels _different_ from what Slade usually does. He went to a lot of trouble to ensure that we did as he said. And for what? What does he gain?"

Robin's shoulders slumped slightly as he sighed, "I don't know Raven, I just don't know. History tells me he's doing this out of spite, just to shake us up, but I don't know. There are too many 'what if?' factors that could come into play." He gently laid a hand on her forearm and smiled softly, "But for now, we just have to play along. We'll beat him, we always have."

Before Raven could say anything more the doors slid open with a soft whoosh and the rest of the team strode in, surprisingly led by Beast Boy. The two of them looked over at their friends, slightly startled.

"I know no one wants to talk about this now but..." Beast Boy started, vaulting the couch and landing securely on the other side, "I think I know where Slade wanted us to go."

Raven and Robin's interest perked instantly, despite the understandable seriousness of the topic.

Beast Boy cleared his throat before he began and Starfire and Cyborg sat down beside him. "Well, there was this park that Terra took me to before..." He looked down at his hands before continuing, "A while ago, and that's where Slade..." He trailed off. Everyone knew what he was referring to, so there were no worries. "That could be the 'historical significance' he was talking about."

Raven and Robin glanced at each other, both thinking the same thing. "There's only one way to find out," Robin said, standing, "We'll have to go check it out. We need to find this place before our time's up." The rest of the team stood as well, "Titans, let's go."

x

_7:25 p.m.__ 19 hours and 53 minutes remaining _

The sign at the park's entrance seemed to hang on the poles by sheer will instead of long-lost nails, a thing nearly all of the signs the place held had in common. Even though the park had been closed for quite some time, the occasional lamp flickered dismally in the twilight, barely offering the most minuscule amount of light.

Starfire shivered slightly as the Titans walked along, "I do not like this place. It gives me the bumps of goose." No one smiled or bothered to correct Starfire in her mix up of words, for they too thought this place rather creepy.

Each of them carried a flashlight, except Starfire, who used her starbolts, and Cyborg, who had one built into his shoulder. Despite placing a cool façade on their faces, all of them were slightly on edge and half expected Slade to jump out of the shadows at any moment.

That was the reason, they told themselves, for this entire plan. To get everyone out here and try to defeat them by bringing on apprehension and fear.

And it was working.

That's what scared them.

Robin stopped and turned to his friends, "The only way we're going to find these...platform things is if we spread out. Contact everyone if you find them." The Titans nodded grimly and split, each going a different direction.

Reluctantly, Beast Boy headed for the House of Mirrors.

Starfire floated towards the games.

Raven walked to the smaller rides.

Robin started with the Ferris wheel.

And Cyborg entered the Chamber of Horrors.

x

There were two platforms for two spherical bombs and five worried teenagers looking for them. Slade wouldn't put them side by side or even relatively close together.

Robin would have thought Slade to want to hide them where they weren't expected to be found; or someplace excruciatingly hard to find so as to waste some of their time. Either way could work.

That's what bothered him.

Robin didn't know what to think about the situation – there were too many loop holes and different outcomes. Too many possible solutions with only two different endings.

The bombs were deactivated or Raven and Starfire killed.

He didn't favor either one of them.

Withdrawing a bird-a-rang from his belt, Robin aimed and fired it at the center of the ride. With the weapon secured firmly in his belt he began to climb the aged metal bars, searching every car for the platforms.

x

Starfire shuddered unwillingly again, apprehensively looking over her shoulders every once in a while. One hand stayed in front of her, her starbolt casting an eerie emerald glow on the surrounding game booths. The other stayed stiffly at Starfire's side, her fingertips gleaming green as she kept another starbolt at the ready.

She peered quickly but thoroughly into every booth and floated on her way, more than eager to leave this haunted place.

x

Cyborg grunted as he opened the heavy metal door blocking the entrance into the spooky ride. Several cars, five at least, were lined up in a row at the beginning of the ride but held nothing of importance.

His shoulder light illuminated the dark corners and what lived there. Even though no one used the park any longer the black lights still shone brightly, making everything white stand out against the stark blackness.

Several rats, their silent prowling interrupted, squeaked and scurried out of his way. Cyborg sighed and continued walking, the hollow sound from his footsteps echoing loudly in the tunnel.

About halfway through, he surmised, Cyborg came upon a small room that held extra light bulbs and the like. And something not of the like.

x

As Beast Boy came upon the House of Mirrors, he was puzzled to see a shiny metal door in place of the entrance; something he did _not_ remember being there. When he gripped the cool handle and tugged hard it didn't budge, as was to be expected. In the blink of an eye he changed into a towering green gorilla and reached to yank the door off its hinges and toss it away, but stopped short. That probably wouldn't be the greatest of ideas.

Taking great care, he extended a large hairy hand and pulled on the door, which opened smoothly. Quickly changing back to human form, Beast Boy flicked on his flashlight and entered the building.

Glass crunched noisily beneath his feet and the light reflected on the mirrors, brightening the entire place. Everything looked much the same since Terra's betrayal, if not a little dustier.

With the exception of one thing.

x

Raven unconsciously pulled the hood of her cloak open her head and steadied her nerves. She was seeing lurking robots in every shadow and the hallucinations were unsettling her. There were a least five smaller rides for her to search and she hoped beyond hope that it wouldn't take long.

Before she even got to the second ride, Tilta-something-or-other, her communicator went off.

As she flipped the cover over, Robin's voice assailed her ears before his image came into focus.

"One of the platforms has been found. Everyone meet at the Chamber of Horrors."

When Raven walked up everyone was standing outside of the ride but Beast Boy. Robin was talking quietly with Cyborg and Starfire listened in intently.

Right after her, Beast Boy jogged up, his eyes wide. "Dudes, I found the other one in the funky House of Mirrors."

Raven stared at him – both of them, found. What did that mean?

Robin nodded and faced all of them, "We'll check this one out first, then the other one."

Each of the Titans gave a signal that they understood and silently followed Cyborg into the ride.

All of them visibly tensed when Cyborg stopped in front of the slightly ajar door. None of them knew what to expect, (with the exception of Cyborg) but each breathed small and silent sighs of relief when they looked into the room.

The only things currently residing in the closet were a few black lights, a wrench, and a small shiny black rectangle with an indention in it the size of a softball. Only about the size of a shoe box, the platform sat innocently on the dusty floor, a small blue light blinking on the side, which matched the fluorescent blue digits ticking down the time.

"Well it's...small." Beast Boy commented, standing on his tip toes to get a good view of it.

The Titans backed away in unison and stood in a small circle, "At least we know what it looks like," Raven offered, trying and failing to break the silence effectively.

"Let's go take a look at the other one." Robin said quietly, leading the way out.

x

It was much the same for the other platform in the House of Mirrors.

The only thing different, and not in a good way, was that Starfire sneezed loudly and a nearby game booth exploded as an uncontrollable starbolt zoomed from her nose and struck it.

"Chromium?" Robin put in, slightly confounded. Starfire nodded and wiped her nose, sniffling. "Maybe you had better stay out here, just in case." He added. Starfire's only response was another explosive sneeze.

The Titans continued on without her and stood silently over the second platform as its orange light and numbers flashed brightly.

A thought suddenly occurred to Raven, "How are we going to know which sphere goes with which platform?"

The friends glanced at one another, frowning.

"Maybe there's...a note in the box?" Beast Boy presented, shrugging slightly.

"Did we bring the spheres?" Robin asked, looking at each of them.

Cyborg nodded, "I left them in the T-car."

"Alright. Let's go take a look." Robin responded, waving his friends to follow.

Starfire rejoined them after they exited the ride and together the five teenagers approached the T-car like it was about ready to explode at any moment.

Which, considering the blatantly obvious, it could.

Cyborg opened up the trunk and withdrew the brown cardboard box and sat it on the hood of the car.

"Dude!" Beast Boy shrieked, his eyes going wide, "I was sitting near that thing and you didn't tell me!"

Everyone ignored him.

When Cyborg opened the lid, he stopped, "Uh, someone else pick them up."

Without questioning him, Raven and Robin stepped forward and picked up a sphere each. Cradling them gently, they both stared into the box as their friends gathered around.

Sitting, slightly crumpled and squished, under one of the orbs lay a folded piece of paper.

Tentatively, Cyborg picked up the note and began to read it.

_Good. You have come as far as to pick up the spheres. I would hope you didn't wait until the last minute. _

_By now, I expect you have found the park with help from Beast Boy. If not, think of this as a useful hint. _

_If you took special note of the blinking lights on the platforms, you would see that they correlate to either Starfire or Raven. There are similar lights on the spheres. From there connect the dots and don't place the wrong sphere on the wrong platform. _

_After entering the selected building close the doors securely. After the doors are closed, you cannot come out until the spheres have been deactivated. Failure to comply and I will know. _

Cyborg crumpled up the note and threw it back into the box. "He's so arrogant." He muttered through clenched teeth.

Simultaneously, Raven and Robin inspected the spheres and found the little blinking lights. Raven held the orange one and Robin the blue.

"I'm going to go far out on a limb here and guess the blue one's mine and the orange Star's." Raven muttered, placing the sphere gently back into the box. "But at least we now know where to go."

Starfire took the sphere from Robin's hands and inspected it closely. "But when I went close to the House of Mirrors, I sneezed. There must be chromium over there, and if I am to safely place this on the designated platform I must do so without sneezing. If I do sneeze, I will detonate the bomb. We must locate the whereabouts of the chromium supply."

Cyborg absently pressed a few buttons on his arm, "If my guess is correct, I know where the chromium is coming from." Without a second thought he walked off, his friends giving confused looks to his metallic back.

The half-robot returned within a few minutes, a deep frowned plastered on his face.

"The chromium supply was coming from the door to the House of Mirrors. It must be coated with a chromium alloy. But no one uses chromium on doors; it's usually just used for knives and other kitchenware."

The infectious frown spread to Robin, whose fists clenched in anger, "It was Slade." Everyone turned to him, less than surprised at this conclusion. "He somehow must have known that you're allergic to metallic chromium." Unconsciously, Robin began to pace. "Which makes things a little more complicated." He looked up at Starfire, "Can you hold back the sneezes when you're near chromium?"

Starfire looked puzzled. "I have not tried to before. But I have heard cases of those who have tried. It is possible, but can cause bladder problems and you loose your sense of taste for a week."

Under normal circumstances, the previous comment would have been regarded with funny looks and raucous laughter, much to the confusion of the alien. But these, after all, were not normal circumstances.

"Well what would happen if you didn't stop the sneezes? Your starbolt could just hit a wall or something and miss the sphere entirely." Beast Boy prompted.

Starfire shook her head solemnly. "No, that would not happen. I am to go into a house of mirrors; my starbolts reflect off of mirror-like surfaces. It would just ricochet off and hit another mirror and complete the same cycle again." Beast Boy slumped in defeat.

"At least you can withhold the sneezing." Robin added, taking the sphere back from Star and placing it in the box next to the other one. "Let's go home; there's nothing more to do here."

x

_9:10 p.m.__ 18 hours and 8 minutes remaining _

The car ride home was as far away from pleasant as anything could get. The tension in the air and unspoken concerns weighed heavily on everyone, and their silence only deepened the atmosphere.

Needless to say, everyone filed out of the car as quickly as possible when they arrived back at the Tower.

Robin soon found himself alone in the garage with the box in his hands. Of course no one had bothered to grab it. With a sigh, he entered the tower and set the box down on the kitchen counter. He could see nor hear any of the other Titans; something that was a rarity around the Tower.

With another sigh Robin turned on his heel and left the room.

x

He wasn't sure if she had heard him, so he closed the door to the roof softly. Though there were no lights on the roof, the entire space was illuminated nicely; the waning moon saw to that.

A slight breeze ruffled the edges of her cloak as she sat in deep meditation – oblivious to everything around her. The night was cool, and the wind only made it cooler; it was a clear sign that fall had settled into its place.

Silently, so as not to disturb Raven, Robin walked up and stood next to her. Though she was floating a few feet off of the ground, they were level with each other.

Raven cracked open an eye and stared at him, and soft smile playing on her delicate lips, before she closed the eye again. Together they sat, or stood, in Robin's case, for several minutes before either spoke.

Finally Raven untangled her legs from each other and stood, her mauve eyes solemn as the wind disturbed her cloak.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked, looking at her. Raven gave him a small smile and Robin looked down at his feet. "Right, stupid question. Besides tomorrow, I mean."

Raven stared back over the bay, the smile gone. "I'm just...worried, that's all." She sat down and Robin followed suit, "I mean, we know the trick Slade pulled with Star, but what about me? What has he done to make it harder on me?" Raven sighed and rested her forehead on her knees, "I've had a terrible feeling about all of this from the very beginning and it's only gotten worse as we've neared our deadline."

Raven lay down on the cool cement and groaned; something she did not do often. "Am I crazy? Is this crazy?" She stared at the winking stars, shaking her head. "This is Slade, and he's up to his usual antics. We've counteracted and defeated everything he's ever thrown at us – why should this be anything different?"

Robin lay down as well and looked over at her, "Because it targets you."

Raven's slightly open mouth snapped shut, the epitome of her fear dawning upon her. The conclusion was so simple it spawned hundreds of others just to confuse you.

She stood up suddenly and turned away, "I...I'm going to bed. I just need to be alone. Sorry." Raven said curtly before walking to the door.

Robin watched her go, his brow furrowed in worry.

x

_10:18 a.m.__ 5 hours remaining _

Raven groaned sleepily and rolled over, checking her clock.

10:18

For the love of all that's holy.

She sat up quickly, wide awake.

Five hours.

Exactly.

What should she do?

Her stomach grumbled uneasily and Raven let out a small 'ah'.

Eating would be a great start.

She half expected the kitchen to be in a relative state of chaos, but was less than surprised when, for once, Beast Boy and Cyborg unconsciously agreed on one thing – waffles. Without their cheerful banter, the kitchen was the personification of a tomb full of live people, with the special addition of waffles and two softball sized bombs pushed off to the side.

Raven mouthed a silent 'thank you' to Robin as he placed a plate of steaming waffles in front of her, along with, surprisingly, a cup of tea. She ate and drank her fill and only noticed after she had pulled her nose out of her waffles that only her and Robin were left at the table.

With the sudden loss for her appetite, Raven pushed the plate away and fingered the edge of her cloak, "So where's everyone else gone off to?"

Robin, clearly no longer hungry as well, fiddled absentmindedly with his waffle. "Who knows. Everyone's just wanted to keep to themselves lately."

Raven downed the rest of her tea and stood up and carried her plate to the sink. "Here, I'll help." Robin offered, joining her and eyeing the unfriendly pile of dishes next to the sink.

x

_3:07 p.m.__ 11 minutes remaining. _

"I think you should go in at least five minutes beforehand, so there is little room for failure." Robin said, looking at Raven and Starfire both. The two girls nodded.

"Are you ready?" They nodded simultaneously again.

When the group reached the middle of the fairgrounds, they split; Cyborg and Beast Boy going with Starfire and Robin going with Raven.

Each of the girls had their chosen spheres.

Both groups lingered outside the doorways, unwilling yet bound to enter.

Cradling the sphere, Raven gave one last special smile before being engulfed by the shadowed gloom. Robin closed and bolted the door behind her; as much as it tore him up inside to do so.

Gripping her sphere, Starfire backed into the House of Mirrors as Cyborg and Beast Boy gave small solemn waves. Then too, was the door shut and locked behind her.

The three of them rejoined at the T-car moments later.

Robin stared in the direction of the Chamber of Horrors. "And now we wait."

x

Raven fumbled for her flashlight and clicked it on, her death grip on the sphere tightening even more. Her mind was awhirl as she walked steadily towards the small closet, ignoring everything around her.

Questions zoomed through her mind, the main amount being the ever-present yet mist unhelpful 'what ifs'. And they couldn't be silenced.

She nearly collapsed with relief when she made it to the platform without trouble. Though in her mind, as if far off, Raven could hear the mocking voice of Slade.

_Dead man walking._

With a shake of her head, Raven looked at the blinking digits. Now, instead of hours and minutes, only minutes and second remained. The walk to the platform had taken her a good two minutes.

That left her with seven minutes.

_If any magic, even the minutest amount, touches them, they will detonate. _

Realization hit her like a bullet.

She wouldn't be able to phase out.

She wouldn't even be able to _get_ out.

Raven checked the timer; nearly six and a half minutes remained.

Heart racing, Raven clutched the sphere tighter to her chest and ran blindly for the door. Her flashlight illuminated only so much of the way and her foot got caught in the tracks and she fell heavily to the ground.

Raven squeezed her eyes shut as the sphere hit the floor loudly – but the explosion never came.

Breathing deeply and shaking slightly, Raven picked herself and the sphere up and ran for the door, her fear made anew.

Pounding madly on the door she screamed, "Robin!"

x

Their attention was snagged by a sharp scream piercing the air. All the color drained from Robin's face.

"No, stay, I'll go." He shouted over his shoulder at his two friends as he sprinted for the Chamber of Horrors.

Raven was still pounding madly away at the door when he skidded to a stop.

"Raven, Raven! What is it? What's wrong?" The pounding stopped and he heard Raven sigh.

"I'm not going to be able to get out of here Robin." She whispered, though he still heard her through the door.

"What do you me-"

"I mean I'm not coming back out." She said calmly. "Neither is Starfire. We were never meant to come out." Robin slumped against the door, his greatest fears finally dawning on him. "I don't know what Slade's plan is or what he wants," she continued, "But I do know that no matter what, I am not coming back out."

Robin's breathing was ragged as he tried to comprehend what she was saying so calmly.

"Just do something for me Robin," Raven added, her voice getting quieter, "Live for me, please, because I didn't."

Robin nodded slowly, "Yes, anything. I will."

"Now get up and go back to Cyborg and Beast Boy. You only have a few minutes."

Robin nodded again and stood up. "Goodbye Raven." He whispered.

"Goodbye Robin."

x

_3:16 p.m.__ Two minutes remaining. _

Raven touched the door one last time and jogged hurriedly back to the platform.

She had twenty-seven seconds.

As she counted down silently in her head, Raven positioned the sphere above the platform and let it drop into place was the timer reached zero.

And then the world exploded.

x

Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy watched in horror as the two separate buildings blew up, sending debris and dirt into the air.

"They were never going to be able to deactivate the spheres, were they?" Beast Boy asked quietly, trying his best not to let the tears at the edges of his eyes flow over their boundaries.

Robin could only shake his head. There were no more words, for words would hold little meaning if they could not be heard by his two friends. By Raven.

Cyborg clenched his jaw and swallowed hard. "What was the point of this?" he asked, his voice ragged.

Robin sank to his knees and put his face into his shaking hands,

"To break us."

xxxxxx

Wow, I really do hope you liked that. It took me much longer than I expected to write, but that's ok. It's much longer than I'm accustomed to.

If you are a reviewer or reader of _Silver Lining_, I realize I have a chapter to place up on there, but please, bear with me. This seemed too great a chance to pass up and my muse for that fic has gone on a very long vacation to the Mediterranean. I do believe this is borderline AWOL.

Anyhoo, please, tell me what you thought and until...some other time. Ciao!


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